Father-Mother-Truth

   Mortally wounded, a soldier was lying on the battlefield. Realizing the end was near, a chaplain bent over the wounded young man and said, “My boy, you are slipping away. Shall I pray for you?” The soldier replied, “Yes, pray this prayer—‘I thank’—and, as those words were spoken, pain gripped the soldier, and he withered in agony. Moments later, as the pain began to subside, the soldier resumed speaking and said, “I thank thee God for my Mother and Dad.”

   Long before the above was spoken, a timeless text from the book of Proverbs addressed three of the building blocks of human society—a father, a mother, and truth: “Listen to your father who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell it . . .” (Proverbs 23:22-23).

   Here is a foundational reality: Truth is reality. Truth is that which actually is the case. Truth is 1) distinguishable , 2) attainable, and 3) valuable. All of these properties are implied in this timeless text! At the heart of the text is the human to human relationship—a man and a woman; male and female; father and mother. None of us would have experienced life on Earth as we know it without the reality (absolute truth) of this relationship (cf. Genesis 1:26-28; 2: 18-24).

   Here is a foundational requirement: Not only does the above truth set forth the most foundational human to human relationship, but such is linked to the most foundational relationship of all—man’s relationship to the Creator. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God . . . . For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (Romans 1:20-22, 26-27).

   The word nature (Gk. phusis) in the above “. . . (denotes the natural condition, quality of state e.g. of the air, of blood, or the physical features of a land) . . . the regular order of nature, which determines the distinction between the sexes . . .” (Brown). “The nature of things, the force, laws, order of nature: as opp. to what is . . . abnormal, perverse” (Thayer). Male and female were made exclusively for each other. Heterosexuality is as basic to life on Earth as air is to breathing and blood is to physical life (cf. Leviticus 17:11; Genesis 1:27-28; 2:7). Certain abnormalities in the areas of air and blood can result in the death of human beings. Homosexuality will result in the decay, and eventual death, of every society that endorses such practices (cf. Romans 1:27, 32).

   Here is a foundational responsibility: In 1977, a book titled, The Castrated Family, was authored by Harold M. Voth (1922-2003), senior psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at the prestigious Menninger Foundation, Topeka, KS. Dr. Voth, M.D., was among the most distinguished professionals in his field. He wrote, “Having a family is one of the highest callings on earth; children are our most precious and valuable resource. . . . [A] strong monogamous family and the highest culture go together. If one deteriorates, so does the other. The signs of decay abound . . . and the trend is downward” (7, 12).

   Two decades after publication of Voth’s book, the following appeared in the editorial of the daily newspaper published in the city from which I am writing: “It is long past time for everyone to dispense with the destructive notion that the intact, two-parent, heterosexual family is no better or worse than any other family unit. On the contrary, it is the root of Western civilization. This simple fact should be emphasized in schools, in public forums, in the movies and anywhere else it may do some good” (Parkersburg News, 10 May 1995, 4A).

   “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.” This is apologetics at its most foundational level.